Shmyhal: Ukraine expects US, Canada to be first to hand over Russia’s confiscated assets

This opinion was expressed by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal in an interview with the Inter TV channel, summarizing the results of the two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.

"Together with our partners, we have created an appropriate register of damages caused by Russia to Ukraine. The next two steps are the creation of an international commission and an appropriate international fund where these funds will be accumulated. The partners have already started an inventory of Russian assets so that we understand specific numbers and specific mechanisms. We expect the USA and Canada to transfer the first confiscated funds which will already go to the newly created fund," Shmyhal said.

He expressed hope that this will be the first precedent that will open legal doors for other partners who still have certain doubts or hesitate.

The Prime Minister noted that the important message of the conference in London was the announcement by all partners that Russia must pay for aggression and for all the damage it caused to Ukraine.

"We continue our work to create an international compensation mechanism, for the confiscation of frozen Russian funds, for future reparations and future compensation of the hundreds of billions of dollars in damages that Russia has caused to Ukraine," he said.

Shmyhal also noted that 61 countries and 1,500 participants took part in the Ukraine Recovery Conference this year. "The interest is enormous. And this is despite the fact that several thousand more could not get to the conference but wanted to. Having such a coalition for our reconstruction, we are talking about the fact that the coalition for the restoration of Ukraine was launched. I am convinced that new countries and businesses will continue to join this coalition," the Prime Minister noted.

According to him, 400 businesses have already joined the initiative to restore Ukraine.

As reported, Ukraine is already preparing a mechanism that will make it possible to confiscate up to $500 billion in Russian assets frozen in the West.